For All Mankind Season 4 Episode 3 Review: The Bear Hug
For All Mankind Season 4 Episode 3, “The Bear Hug,” is, for the most part, a set-up episode. It introduces us to several new characters, massively changes the political playing field back on Earth, and sets up multiple key conflicts that will doubtless fuel the rest of the season.
A story of two coups — a dramatic takeover in the boardroom of Helios and a more violent political changing of the guard in the Soviet Union that sees Margo caught in the crossfire — the episode feels tense and dangerous in more ways than one.
Back on Earth, the coup attempting to oust Mikhail Gorbachev from power has turned violent — his faction is supported by the Soviet Army, while challenger Fyodor Korzhenko has the police backing him.
We hear more about these events than we see — the cosmonauts in Happy Valley are suddenly cut off from communications with home, and there are occasional flashes of news reports on Earth. And, of course, Margo, has been arrested as part of the dust-up at the newsagent’s last week.
The Russians want intel about the number in her bag — who gave it to her, what the mysterious woman wanted from her — that Margo simply cannot give them, not because she doesn’t want to, but because she doesn’t know. The lady never gave her a name, after all and she has no idea what she does.
Thankfully, Margo’s experiences being detained and questioned are more psychological than physical.
Granted, being stuffed in an unmarked transport van, handcuffed to a table in an interrogation room, left hanging from a pipe in the ceiling, and questioned by a series of increasingly terrifying men (one of whom shoots another in the head mid-interrogation) isn’t exactly a picnic, but they are, mercifully, not the worst horrors I expected to be waiting for Margo, so it is, in its way, a small mercy.
By contrast, the coup Dev manages to pull off at Helios is less physically violent, but no less potentially impactful. Because while Dev Ayesa may now be back as CEO, there’s little indication he’s learned or grown from any of the lessons offered by the events of For All Mankind’s third season.
The head of a takeover that seems to be motivated by spite much as anything else, Dev clearly relishes the chance to publicly humiliate his enemies (he fires at least half, if not more, of the existing board.)
And while Kelly and Aleida are getting the cash infusion they need to search for life on the Red Planet, it’s hard not to wonder what this would have looked like had Helios just given them the money they were seeking. ($200 million is chump change for an organization like this.)
Instead, they get Dev, who seems genuinely motivated by the promise of the scientific possibilities inherent in the robotics mission, but who has never been the most stable or reliable of partners. (Something you’d think Kelly’d remember given his past working relationship with her mother, who, despite her best and repeated efforts, was never truly able to reign him in.)
But, hey, at least we get a reunion between Aleida and Bill Strausser, in which we witness the two of them talk about their shared ghosts (Margot) and finally see Aleida acknowledge the PTSD that has driven her from NASA and her seat in Mission Control.
On Mars, Miles is still fretting about money. How much Helios is nickel and diming him for everything, how little he’s able to send home to his family, and his fears that this all means his wife will take the kids and leave Louisiana for the wilds of Boise, where word is there’s better work.
Desperate to boost his take-home pay (which, at the moment, isn’t much more than he’d be making if he’d just stayed on Earth), he starts sucking up to Ilya, lower deck black market dealer and barkeep who makes a living smuggling goods into the Mars settlement.
At first, Ilya insists he prefers to work alone, at least until he realizes Miles has a green badge, which means he can access parts of the base that our friendly neighborhood smuggler can’t get into. Suddenly willing to bring on a new employee, Ilya gives Miles a crash course in business — smile, be friendly, listen to people’s needs and wants, and make yourself indispensable when you can supply them.
Happily, Miles turns out to be a natural, and the extra deposits home start adding up. He even makes it into the North Korean module at one point, on the hunt for a replacement part for Ilya’s still, though he’s almost busted for entering a restricted area of the base.
Thankfully, Lee Jung-gil is there to keep him from getting caught — in exchange for being brought on board Ilya’s operation himself.
The black market bros aren’t mad at the idea of opening up a whole new market for their smuggled goods, but Lee doesn’t want anything as simple as cigarettes or tampons. No, he wants to be reunited with his wife, who is going to be rather hard to hide in a shipping container.
Stray Thoughts and Observations:
- Whatever blossoming friendship or flirtmance is happening between Ed and Svetlana is weirdly charming. I’ve written before about how strange it is to be so emotionally attached to Ed Baldwin now that he’s essentially Old Man Mars, but the fact that he allows himself to be so vulnerable with his new co-pilot/mentee/possible lady friend — coming clean about his hand tremors, his secret weed stash, and the way gardening helps him feel connected to his daughter, well. It’s what the kids call growth. (Even if he hasn’t actually managed to talk about any of this to Dani yet. Just because he’s less emotionally stagnant than he used to be doesn’t mean he’s a different person.)
- Margo suddenly finding herself besties with the new head of Roscosmos, Irina Morozova, is more than a little convenient, but it at least explains why she was approached in the first place. What she wants from her is less clear. Margo’s obviously smart and capable, and a valuable prize in the inter-agency squabbling between Soviet factions. But she certainly doesn’t have any access to high level intel any more, nor is she terrible familiar with the advanced technology the Russian space program uses. Maybe Irina wants her as a figurehead? A sounding board, as another woman familiar with navigating success in a predominantly male world? We’ll have to wait and see.
- The most I have ever liked Dev was when he was getting yelled at by that random surfer outside his house. Bring her back, show!
What did you think of this episode of For All Mankind? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Lacy Baugher
Lacy Baugher is a digital strategist and freelance writer living in Washington, D.C., who’s still hoping that the TARDIS will show up at her door eventually. Favorite things include: Sansa Stark, British period dramas, the Ninth Doctor and whatever Jessica Lange happens to be doing today. Loves to livetweet pretty much anything, and is always looking for new friends to yell about Game of Thrones with on Twitter. Ravenclaw for life.